Play Chess Against Géza Maróczy

Géza Maróczy (1870-1951), the Hungarian master whose Bind still clamps the Sicilian, sits across the board. Set the strength, clock, color and starting position, then press Start game.

Play Maróczy now

Portrait of Géza Maróczy — Géza Maróczy, 1870-1951.

Black · Géza Maróczy10:00

Choose the settings, then press Start game.

White · You10:00

Géza Maróczyhistorical player

Preparing the board.

Set the game on the right. Start unlocks the board and starts the side-to-move clock.

Set up your game against Géza Maróczy

Géza Maróczy stays selected. Choose the playing strength, clock, color and starting position.

OpponentGéza MaróczyStrength1500Clock10+5You playWhite

Opponent

Géza Maróczy remains selected while you choose the settings for this game.

Géza Maróczy1870-1951

Playing strength

Legend playing strength100-point steps

1500

1500Maróczy, 1500 Elo target2600

Time control

The first number is the starting time in minutes. The second is the increment after each completed legal move.

Your color

Starting position optional

All chess legends

Start game locks these settings and begins the selected clock. Change setup unlocks them for a new game.

About Géza Maróczy

Géza Maróczy at the Manhattan Chess Club in 1926

Géza Maróczy (1870-1951) was the leading Hungarian player of his generation and one of the best in the world in the years around 1900. A water engineer by profession, he combined exact technique with quiet positional pressure, and his wins at Monte Carlo and Ostend made him a plausible challenger for Emanuel Lasker, though the match never took place. His name survives every day in the Maroczy Bind, the pawn clamp against the Sicilian that players still learn a century later. He later became a revered teacher and coached Vera Menchik, the first women's world champion.

The Maroczy BindHis c4 and e4 pawn clamp against the Sicilian is still standard theory a century later

Ostend 1905 winnerWon the giant 36-player Ostend marathon, one of the strongest events of the decade

Monte Carlo doubleWon the prestigious Monte Carlo tournament in 1902 and again in 1904

Coached a world championGuided Vera Menchik, who won the first Women's World Championship in 1927

1870
Born in Szeged
Géza Maróczy was born on 3 March 1870 in Szeged, then part of Austria-Hungary. Trained as a water engineer, he kept the day job through much of his chess career.
1902
Monte Carlo champion
Won the Monte Carlo tournament, the first of two victories there, establishing himself among the world's elite.
1904
Monte Carlo again
Repeated as Monte Carlo champion, confirming his place near the very top of world chess.
1905
Ostend and Barmen
His finest year: won the giant 36-player tournament at Ostend and shared first with Janowski at Barmen.
1906
The match that never was
Negotiations for a world championship match with Emanuel Lasker collapsed over terms, and his title chance passed.
1908
Shared first in Vienna
Tied for first at Vienna with Oldrich Duras and Carl Schlechter, late confirmation of his class.
1927
Olympiad gold
Played first board as Hungary won team gold at the first Chess Olympiad in London. The same year his pupil Vera Menchik won the first Women's World Championship.
1951
Death in Budapest
Died in Budapest on 29 May 1951. The Maroczy Bind keeps his name in the vocabulary of every Sicilian player.